Bonds' hit into history

"Pitch to my daddy."

Those were the words that the daughters of San Francisco Giants superstar Barry Bonds had written on their notepads throughout the much-anticipated series with the Houston Astros at Enron Field.

That was also the sentiment of the fans who came to watch a date with history.

Bonds was sitting on 69 home runs before the series, and for the first two games he didn't get a chance to even swing for the fences as the Astros pitchers threw nothing but balls out of the strike zone, at the risk of not surrendering the 70th home run, which would have tied Bonds with St. Louis slugger Mark McGwire, who broke the previous record of 61 in 1998.

Although the Astros tried to pitch around him for much of the series, it ended up backfiring on them, as 2000 MVP Jeff Kent and the rest of the Giants lineup took advantage and beat the Astros handily in the first two games. But the bigger question remained -- would any of them challenge Bonds, even at the risk of losing?

On Thursday night, October 4, rookie left-hander Wilfedo Rodgriguez did decide to pitch to their daddy, and in the ninth inning history was made as Bonds corked a 1-1 fastball into the upper deck and into the hands of Charles J. Murphy, who quickly grabbed the 70th home run ball with his son's glove and was escorted away by police. No doubt he'll teach his son the true meaning of capitalism now.

Let's get back to Bonds and this series, shall we? Until that historic making ninth inning the Astros seemed determined for him not to make history on their turf, even at the expense of being booed mercilessly by the Houston crowd, who came to see history made, and by that I don't mean Bonds setting the all-time walk record, which he did on Wednesday.

Astros coach Larry Dierker was using the simple strategy of not letting Bonds beat them, and by walking him for almost every at bat it was understandable. However, there were certain moments where one had to wonder whether or not that was the case.

During the fifth inning in game two of this series Bonds was up with a runner on first and one out in what was still a closely contested game. Normally the strategy would be to set up for a possible double play and end the inning right? Not if Dierker had anything to say about that. They ended up walking Bonds on four straight pitches for the second time in a row, and as a result gave up a two-run single to Kent which opened up the floodgates and essentially Houston was on the way to their seventh straight setback.

After the game, many people in the media questioned whether or not it was either strategy or just displaying bad baseball etiquette. For much of Thursday night it was pretty much the same.

The fans had enough of seeing Bonds play the role of statue while the Astros continued to issue walk after walk. Until that ninth inning, Bonds had only seen six pitches in the strike zone that were even hittable, and 14 balls that weren't. It got to the point people were leaving the stadium after the sixth inning, and the game was still close at 6-2. Those who left in disgust of the way Bonds was being pitched to were as frustrated as he was at the plate.

So in the ninth inning, Rodgriguez was sent to the mound to do mop up duty. From the onset it appeared as if someone would finally challenge Bonds as his first two pitches just missed the strike zone. However, the first time he did throw one inside, Bonds wasn't going to miss this opportunity, not with the lame-duck balls he'd seen earlier. He used his short stroke and quick wrists to turn on the pitch and drive it into the stands. As he threw up his arms in celebration, you can almost sense a sigh of relief coming from Bonds as he smiled from ear to ear.

When he approached home plate to a swarm of flashing light bulbs throughout the stadium, he was joined by his son Nikolai, who was a bat boy on this special occasion, as well as by his teammates.

The most interesting aspect of this historic chase for 70 home runs was not when he finally tied the mark, it was all of the drama leading up to this night in Houston. All we heard were the stories of how much of a prima donna Bonds appeared, or how much he alienated his own teammates. The lame excuses by the media and the fans about the fact that he was hitting these home runs in smaller ballparks and with diluted pitching.

Excuse me, but I believe these most of these same ballparks and bad pitching were around when McGwire broke the record, and I didn't hear anyone complain about that. While we're on the McGwire issue here, was it just me or did anyone else get the perception that McGwire didn't want Bonds to break his precious record? Just wondering...)

When Bonds tied the record, all of the blase attitudes went out the window, especially when he took two curtain calls -- from the opposing team's fans of all people. The same people who were witnessing their home team getting swept and having a late-season collapse that almost rivaled the '64 Phillies and '95 Angels.

If Bonds does break the record during the final weekend of the season (which I personally believe he will), how will history judge him?

Will he be known as the greatest left fielder to ever play the game (apologies to Ted Williams, but Bonds should be considered that), or as a self-serving, arrogant jerk who only cared about himself and no one else. Will history judge him for the home-run record or for the .196 batting average in the postseason?

Bonds may not exactly be the friendliest player around, but there is no denying that this man is a Hall of Fame athlete who deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Ruth, Mantle, and his own godfather Willie Mays as the best to ever play the game.

Hopefully the Giants can somehow sneak into the playoffs this weekend and ride that "Dustiny" momentum to get to the World Series and finally win the big one for Barry.

This weekend Bonds has a chance to make history, and believe it or not the entire world will be rooting for him, except if your name is McGwire or McFarlane. (Oh, speaking of which, anyone want to guess how much that ball is worth now? Didn't think so.)